NEW YORK (AP) β Discount store chainΒ TargetΒ said Friday that it would join rival Walmart and a number of other prominent American brands in scaling backΒ diversity, equity and inclusionΒ initiatives that have come under attack from conservative activists and, as of this week,Β the White House.
The Minneapolis-based retailer said the changes to its βBelonging at the Bullseyeβ strategy would include ending aΒ program it establishedΒ to help Black employees build meaningful careers, improve the experience of Black shoppers and to promoteΒ Black-owned businessesΒ following theΒ police killing of George FloydΒ in 2020.
Target, whichΒ operates nearly 2,000 storesΒ nationwide and employs more than 400,000 people, said it already had planned to end the racial program this year. The company said Friday that it also would conclude the diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, goals it previously setΒ in three-year cycles.
The goals included hiring and promoting more women and members of racial minority groups, and recruiting more diverse suppliers, including businesses owned by people of color, women, LGBTQ+ people, veterans and people with disabilities.
Target has long been a fierce corporate advocate for the rights of Black and LGBTQ+ people. In a memo to employees, Kiera Fernandez, Targetβs chief community impact and equity officer, described the DEI decisions as a βnext chapterβ in the company’s decades-long process to create βinclusive work and guest environments that welcome all.β
βMany years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,β Fernandez wrote in the memo, which Target shared Friday. βAnd as a retailer that serves millions of consumers every day, we understand the importance of staying in step with the evolving external landscape, now and in the future.β
There’s no doubt the U.S. civil rights landscape has undergone a massive transformation in the five years sinceΒ much of corporate AmericaΒ adopted DEI goals in response to theΒ Black Lives Matter protestsΒ that followed Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that outlawed affirmative action in college admissions emboldenedΒ conservative groups to bring or threaten lawsuitsΒ targeting corporate initiatives such as employee resource groups and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups.
Walmart,Β McDonaldβs, Ford, Harley-Davison andΒ John DeereΒ are among theΒ well-known consumer brandsΒ that reduced or phased out their DEI commitments in recent months.
President Donald Trump this week signaled his administration’s agreement with conservatives who argue that policies designed to increase minority representation by considering factors such as race, gender andΒ sexual orientationΒ are unconstitutional.
On his first day in office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at ending DEI programs across the federal government. The order calls forΒ revoking all DEI mandates, policies, preferences and activities, along with the review and revision of existing employment practices, union contracts, and training policies or programs.
Still, some prominent companies have resisted public pressure to retreat from their diversity plans. On Thursday,Β CostcoΒ shareholders rejected a proposal urging the wholesale club operator to evaluate any risks posed by itsΒ diversity, equity and inclusionΒ practices.
According to preliminary results shared by Costco executives, more than 98% of shares voted against the proposal submitted by a conservative think tank based in Washington. Costcoβs board of directors had recommended a no vote.
Apple’s board and the CEO of JPMorgan bank also have expressed a commitment to preserving their companies’ DEI activities.
Unlike some of the companies retooling or retiring their diversity initiatives, Target’s work toΒ build a more inclusive workforceΒ predated 2020, and the company also was long seen as a trailblazer with respect to LGBTQ+ inclusion.
But the employee memo shared Friday said Target no longer would participate in surveys designed to gauge the effectiveness of its actions, including an annual index compiled by the Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ+ rights organization. Target said it would further evaluate corporate partnerships to ensure theyβre connected directly to business objectives, but declined to share details.
Getting corporations to withdraw from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and to stop sponsoring Pride activities have been goals of DEI opponents.
Steering clear of a backlash from conservative customers and organizations is something that Target has tried to navigate for a while. As transgender rights became a more prominent issue in 2016, the company declared that βinclusivity is a core belief at Targetβ and said it supported transgender employees and customers using whichever restroom or fitting room βcorresponds with their gender identity.β
But after some customers threatened to boycott Target stores, the company said that more stores would make available a single-toilet bathroom with a door that could be locked.
In 2023,Β Target removedΒ some of its Pride Month merchandise afterΒ online complaintsΒ and in-store confrontations that the retailer said threatened employeesβ well-being. The company decided last year not to stockΒ Pride MonthΒ products at every U.S. store.
